KATE MOSS and Agyness Deyn can try as hard as they like, but the age of the genuine supermodel is well and truly over.

While today's human clothes horses certainly live up to the partying image of the iconic lovelies, they're missing that vital extra sparkle that made Cindy Crawford and her pals the ultimate glamour stars.

These women were more than just models - for the first time, they were superstars, famous outside fashion circles and as admired as rock stars, footballers and movie stars.

For Cindy, now 43 but just as stunning as she was in her heyday, that whole magical, starry era was summed up by one moment at a fashion show.

With Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, she had just starred in the video for George Michael's Too Funky when the girls teamed up for a Versace show - and that track boomed out of the PA.

Cindy recalls: "The highlight of my career was, I think, that supermodel moment when Linda, Christy, Naomi and I came out for a Versace show to a George Michael song which we had just done the video for.

"It was like a frozen moment in time - that moment defined supermodel."

Cindy admits things are different for models now, as they can no longer attain the heady levels of fame enjoyed by her girl gang. In fact, most big fashion houses prefer to recruit ready-made movie stars.

Cindy says: "Back then, there was so much attention on the world of fashion and modelling. It really was a great place to be and a great thing to be part of.

"It's harder for young models now because all the big campaigns are going to actresses.

"It's harder to make a name for yourself now."

Cindy also feels the extreme body shape - or lack of it - now favoured by models does the industry, and the girls, no favours.

She says: "Fashion is constantly changing. In the Eighties it was more athletic, strong, then it was the Kate Moss heroin chic thing.

"It's kind of gone further than that now. I'm not really sure what that is all about. Fashion should be about fantasy and I'm not sure what the fantasy is in that."

Cindy no longer stresses about her own body - and is happier with how she looks than she was in her catwalk days. And on the cover of Harper's Bazaar this month, she certainly looks like she's holding up well.

She says: "I did the whole fitness thing with the fitness videos and everything. I still try to eat healthily and work out when I can, but it's not such a big deal.

"I'm actually happier with my body now than I was back when I was modelling."

Cindy is still hugely popular and believes the key to her enduring success is that everyday women can relate to her - because she isn't perfect. Well, she looks pretty damn close to it from where we are sitting.

Cindy adds: "I think women relate to me. When I started modelling, everyone was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and icy.

"Then Christy and I came along with brown hair, brown eyes and more athletic bodies. People could relate to that. Women were like, 'I have a mole on my face like her and she's not covering it up'.

"I've always tried to stay true to myself and do projects that I feel are right for me.

"I'm now a mother spending most of my time at home and I try to choose projects that reflect that. People are smart enough to know when you are authentic and when you are not."

She also reckons there is no magic trick to looking as good as she does but, of course, her skincare range helps.

Cindy says: "The secret is that there is no secret. I've worked with the doctor I developed my skincare range with for 12 years now, so that is the routine I always do for my skin.

"The reason it's called Meaning for Beauty is that I want it to actually do something and be meaningful, which it is.

"For me, being in the fashion business there is a lot of pressure to look good but that does make you aware at a very young age that you have to exercise and look after yourself.

"And I have done that for the past 20 years.

"My routine has changed but it is essentially the same. It's eating well and looking after yourself. I also don't smoke, and try to get enough sleep. I'm not a party girl - it's a combination of all that and most of all being happy. There's no magic pill."

Of course, Cindy's lifestyle changed naturally when she became a mother. Married to Randy Gerber since 1998, Cindy is a devoted mother to daughter Presley, 12, and 10-year-old son Kaya.

She says: "As a mother, I always have something better to be doing. I love work still but I'm less tolerant of my time being wasted.

"My sister has kids and she always told me how, when you're a mother, you don't have to ask what your priorities are all the time because you're looking at them. That's really true.

"Having kids makes those decisions easier. It's just so fun being with them.

"I never thought I would like the baby stage and everyone was saying it gets better. I couldn't believe it would but it has.

"They're really developing as people. I love just watching them."

Naturally, Cindy has already considered how she would feel if Presley decided to follow in her mother's high-heeled footsteps, down the catwalk.

While she would not discourage her, she would ensure Presley did not make the same mistakes she did.

Cindy says: "I couldn't really say no. That would be hypocritical.

"I wouldn't push her in that direction but if she said when she was 16 that she wanted to do it then I would try and help her and guide her in the right direction.

"There are some pitfalls, like being talked into doing things you're not comfortable doing. I've done nude pictures - some where I maybe didn't want to do it, but was talked into it.

"I did Playboy when I knew what I was doing. Those pictures, to this day, I'm still very proud of. Others, that I was manipulated into doing, I'm not so proud of."

Cindy even admits that the rumours about wealthy men offering supermodels vast fortunes for a night of passion are true.

But she says:"I'm from a small town so that kind of thing scares me - so I never did it."

Rather than being paid to leap into bed, Linda Evangelista famously summed up the era of the supermodel with one classic quote.

She said she would not get out of bed for less than $10,000 - a comment which Cindy insists her pal has regretted every day since.

Cindy says: "I don't think she understood how that sounds to people. I don't think that did any good to the image of a supermodel."